


Brave Enough to Risk It

by RobinsonsWereHere



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: Angst and Feels, Character Study, Closeted Character, F/F, Feels, Period-Typical Homophobia, lesbian Trixie Franklin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22368136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: Trixie Franklin is afraid to really face the fact that she likes girls. But when she sees Patsy and Delia, she feels a little bit safer.
Relationships: Delia Busby/Patsy Mount
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	Brave Enough to Risk It

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize how queer-coded Trixie is. IMO, she's written exactly like a closeted lesbian trying her hardest to like guys. Thus, this fic was born...

There are many people who think Trixie Franklin is brave. Neighbors who told her she was brave for not crying when her father went to war. Her mother, saying she was brave for helping her dad when he came back, broken. Friends in nursing school, who had laughed and called her brave for stepping forward to take care of cases that made the other girls squeamish or nervous. People think she’s fearless, but in reality, she’s far from it.

She can help other people overcome their fears, but she is far too scared to ever face her own. There are a lot of things Trixie is afraid of. Being alone. Being vulnerable. Losing the ones she cares about. The important people in her life leaving her. The feelings she tries not to have for other women.

In school, it had been less dangerous. She had friends she thought were pretty, friends who thought the same of her. They could steal their parents’ liquor and have a little too much and if they ended up kissing, well, they were schoolgirls. Nobody cared. But when Trixie had stepped out into the world, when she had realized the fluttering in her stomach when she saw a pretty girl wasn’t going to go away… that was when things got hard.

Now, Trixie does her best to ignore those feelings, although in her line of work, it’s not exactly the easiest thing. She works with clever, capable women daily, for Christ’s sake! Still, distracting herself with nice, handsome men seems to do the trick. She might not get the same feeling of breathlessness, the same shivers down her spine, but it’s nice. A distraction. Movie dates and dance halls and dinners make it easier to ignore the more dangerous feelings, to push them down inside.

Everything changes when Delia moves into Nonnatus House.

Trixie has seen Patsy and Delia interact at various Poplar events, and she’s already friendly with the hospital nurse. But as soon as Delia is living with them, Trixie can’t help but notice she and Patsy seem closer than even long-time friends. Patsy, sharp and quick, softens as soon as she catches sight of Delia. Delia, kind but quiet, never hesitates to sit next to Patsy, even cuddling into her arms on the couch. If either one was a man, Trixie and Barbara would’ve already been teasing them about weddings.

But Patsy and Delia are both women, and regardless of what relationship they’re supposed to have, they’re closer to each other than even some husbands and wives Trixie has met. Add that to their propensity for physical touch, and Patsy’s frequent nocturnal journeys to Delia’s room, and, well…

Trixie admires them for it.

She doesn’t dare ask, doesn’t mention it even when she and Patsy are alone. The best thing she can do for them, she knows, is keep quiet. They can have what they have, and continue on believing nobody knows a thing. They can love each other in private, in small touches and warm looks and hours spent together when nobody is awake to notice. They are brave enough to risk it, to go out on a limb for love.

Trixie Franklin is not brave. She will never be able to share her secret with someone else. But watching Patsy and Delia share each other, knowing she isn’t the only person in the world with these dangerous feelings, makes her feel a little less afraid.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have feedback, leave a comment or kudos, or come find me at nursebarbarahereward on tumblr!


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